Carbon dioxide emissions account for around 410 parts per million (ppm) – or 0.041% of the total atmosphere. We need to stabilise this figure to around 350 ppm to avoid the worst effects of climate change. Much of annual global emissions is sequestered naturally by the environment. So, what is carbon sequestration? Circa 4-5 Gigatons of CO2 a year can be sequestered through soil. We need at least 15 gigatons (15 billion tonnes) of C02 to be sequestered a year for global temperature to stay below 2 degrees.
Carbon sequestration is a natural OR artificial process by which carbon dioxide is removed from the atmosphere and held in solid/liquid form. Examples of this are: reservoirs that retain carbon and keep it from entering Earth’s atmosphere are known as carbon sinks; Forest regrowth is another form as the forests are also carbon sinks as forests store as much as 45% of all land carbon.
Restoration of forests could capture up to 2/3rds of all anthropogenic carbon emissions.
There are 2 types of carbon sequestration:
Geologic: the process of storing CO2 underground. CO2 is usually pressurised until it becomes a liquid and is then injected into porous rock formations in geologic basins.
Biologic: refers to the storage of CO2 in vegetation, soils, and wood products. For example, by growing more plants such as trees helps remove more CO2 from the atmosphere.
